Of course, there's a ancient tale of a warrior who would one day be brought to this land by the powerful Ormagöden. As Ophelia, Lars and Lars' sister, Lita, recount, this warrior will be brought to either "destroy us" or "deliver us." As Lars notes, "there's some dispute over the translation."

There's not much to Lars' army when you meet him. The female warriors have been taken to the Pleasure Tower and the men to the rock quarry. Sadly, we went to the mines rather than the Pleasure Tower.

Travel around the world is quick and easy enough thanks to your awesome ride. And I should note that it's a cinch to get in and out of the Deuce. The second solo you learn allows you to call the Deuce at any time, because no one likes to walk anywhere. Oddly enough, metal heaven is a lot like L.A.

This is your ride.

The rock quarry is the work of General Lionwhyte, who betrayed humanity and was put in charge of the subjugated humans by Doviculus. You'll see a lot of Lionwhyte across the landscape. Like in the ominous Mr. Rockmore in the distance, which features four faces--all of them Gen. Lionwhyte's.

The scene at the rock quarry is quite horrific. Hundreds of able-bodied men are banging their heads against the walls. That's because Lionwhyte didn't give them any tools. Lars, proving why he's not the star of Brutal Legend, asks Eddie: "What do you do with a bunch of kids who only know how to bang their heads?"

"You start a revolution," Eddie replies.

And then a choice appears on the screen."Start Revolution Now or Later?" This is how you accept your first mission.

The slaves in the rock quarry aren't chained up or driven by the whip. They just don't know what else to do but submit, bang their heads, and mine rocks. They mindlessly chant, "Rock of Ages" as an orchestral version of Def Leppard's song plays in the background. Statues honoring Lionwhyte can be found all over the mines. Each sings a motivational statement. Lionwhyte is voiced by Judas Priest's Rob Halford. If you don't know Judas Priest, let's just say that Halford is famed for his high-pitched vocals. "Punctualiiiiiiity!!!!" One totem sings out. Another screams, "Teeeeamwooooork!!"

All it takes to convince the headbangers to rise up against their master is for Eddie to play a new solo, one to rally the troops. This is where you get another piece of Eddie's arsenal. With the d-pad, you can give general commands to your troops. You can tell them to follow and attack, defend and protect or send them off to attack a separate enemy or structure. "Kill the nut-s*** over there," Eddie commands. Yes, Jack Black introduces us to the term "Nut-s***." Sainthood assured.

Eddie vows "no headbanger left behind" and proceeds through the mines gathering his metal brethren. Then trouble strikes. There is a second group of metalheads in the quarry. These guys look like they fell off the Rock of Love bus. They're the hair metal faction of Brutal Legend and they don't want to see the world change. They call the guards, which leads to a big fracas. But Eddie now has his own gang and they can be directed to help in the fight.

All of this leads to a confrontation at the Wheel of Pain. The Wheel is manned by dozens of slaves, all of whom will die if it's destroyed. And that's exactly what the leader of the guard (tiny-head, big hands) wants in order to teach the headbangers a lesson. To save the lives of your potential troops, you must defend the three support posts of the Wheel of Pain from the oncoming horde of enemies.

Eddie wants to get "backstage" with Ophelia.

This is meant to teach you how to direct your troops, as you'll need to have them defend a post from attack while you deal with clearing enemies off another post. Even though Eddie is amply suited for killing dudes, you are going to need to use your troops effectively to protect the Wheel. The troop guidance commands look simple and though I always hate protection missions such as this, it didn't look annoying in any way. If you're wondering how big your army can become, Schafer estimated that battles top out at about 40v40, which isn't bad at all.

And that's just a taste of what to expect from Brutal Legend. There certainly appears to be a lot more to discover, including a Battle of the Bands multiplayer mode featuring "a bunch of players" fighting online.

Tim Schafer has always delivered imaginative worlds and interesting twists on conventional gameplay. So it's really no surprise that Brutal Legend is looking like one of the better titles of the fall. Especially if you loved metal when you were fourteen. This game will take you back in time. Unless you're twelve. Then it will take you forward in time to when you are old enough to love metal.